ForumsWEPRFirst extra-solar organic molecule discovered

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Asherlee
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Asherlee
5,014 posts
Shepherd

The Hubble Space Telescope has discovered the first organic molecule on a planet that's not in our solar system. According to NASA, this breakthrough could be a major step toward discovering life on other planets. Scientists believe that the organic compound detected, methane, can be an integral part in the chemical reactions considered necessary to form life as we know it.

The discovery was made on a planet called HD 189733b, which is 63 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Vulpecula. Hubble also confirmed the existence of water molecules in the planet's atmosphere--a discovery made by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope in 2007.

The planet is called a "hot Jupiter" because it is about the size of the giant planet in our solar system but is closer to its sun than planet Mercury is to ours. It takes the planet just two days to orbit its sun. Its temperature is about 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit, considered to be too hot for life as we know it. But this discovery means that methane and other compounds can probably be identified on other, more Earth-like, planets somewhere in the galaxy.

Here is an artist's conception of HD 189733b.

http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/ne/p/2008/320planetmethane550x412.jpg

Source: http://www.news.com/2300-11397_3-6235000-1.html

  • 16 Replies
WizardInBlack
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WizardInBlack
486 posts
Nomad

I don't know jack about the planets, but if theres life on this one there is bound to be more on others.

Asherlee
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Asherlee
5,014 posts
Shepherd

Switchfoot,

"Here is an artist's conception of HD 189733b."

WizardInBlack
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WizardInBlack
486 posts
Nomad

LOL. Pwned.

Asherlee
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Asherlee
5,014 posts
Shepherd

lol...are you blushing now?

Carlie
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Carlie
6,843 posts
Blacksmith

That is awesome! We did a whole Mars day in organic chemistry a few weeks ago, talking about life on other plants and how it would be detected... Ahhh science!

Mr_Hobo_2100
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Mr_Hobo_2100
153 posts
Nomad

The only bad part is all planets not in our solar system is the fact that we will probably never get to it in like 1000+ years

nick_coolhaha
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nick_coolhaha
1,197 posts
Herald

Wow, this is really cool. Just like it said that is way too hot to support life, but maybe some kind of weird species actually live there and they have adapted to that kind of conditions. I really doubt it, but that would be really cool.

DecadentDragon
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DecadentDragon
242 posts
Nomad

Concerning that ocean floor and space thing, our current level of technology has a lot to do with that.

There is no pressure in space.

nick_coolhaha
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nick_coolhaha
1,197 posts
Herald

You see that's why we explore space more then we do the ocean floor because we already know that giant squids exist, but we don't know if there's other life out there. Also, think about this, what if we do find some kind of super advanced civilization and you're able to travel there, and then you can explore their ocean floor and they'll probably have some kind of super giant squid. Haha, I thinking to much outside the box.

DecadentDragon
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DecadentDragon
242 posts
Nomad

Switchfoot, become and engineer and design a sub that will get to the bottom of the ocean.

Then talk to the military. They'll want to know about it, since they've been trying for years.

Carlie
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Carlie
6,843 posts
Blacksmith

There are people who study the ocean floor... they are called marine biologists and oceanographers. I know some. They are real ;-)

Carlie
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Carlie
6,843 posts
Blacksmith

I thought you hadn't even started working on your aeronautical degree? How can yo work on jets without a degree?

soakerman
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soakerman
658 posts
Nomad

its amazing there could be some much life out there we know were not alone

Moegreche
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Moegreche
3,829 posts
Duke

That's quite interesting, I just read several articles related to it. Methane seems like it would be quite abundant, since it is Carbon and Hydrogen, which are very readily available in the universe.
I think we might be really reaching the limits of our current technology with this find. I feel that the only reason this was discovered is because of how hot the planet is. I couldn't find any technical articles, but usually compounds such as this are found because of their emission line spectrum - and that would only have been visible because of the heat there.
It's not inconceivable that life would be there. It's cold conditions that really slow down the chemical processes that lead to life, so if this temperature is within the threshold of chemical reaction performance, then there could be life.
Something else to consider is that nearly every planet in our solar system has methane, and several have water in some form. That means that there could be other planets closer towards the "green zone" of this alien sun which would be perfect for life. It would be incredibly hard to detect a planet there, and even harder (if not impossible) to determine its chemical make-up, but I'm glad astronomers aren't just sitting on their hands.

chiliad_nodi
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chiliad_nodi
638 posts
Peasant

The universe is way too big for only one race. There is not yet a single intelligent life form discovered by humans, and as far a I know, no intelligent life on Earth. We have to realize that humans are not special in any way.

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